For Pakistanis, it’s not as easy to buy cryptocurrencies as the rest of the world. It’s not always just about the money that needs to be invested; rather, there are some tips and tricks that are always needed to create the win-win situation.
It’s was back in 2020 when I finally decided to invest some of my money in cryptocurrencies. Although, the time I chose wasn’t right at all, I somehow gathered the courage and motivation to try my luck. However, I would like to clear that this decision wasn’t a matter of a few days; rather, it took me almost a year to finally come to this point. So, don’t worry if you are just starting with crypto-trading. All you need to do is to read and follow this guide in order to learn how to handle risky situations and make things favourable for you.
- Low fees
- Huge range of cryptocurrencies available
- Staking available
Cryptocurrency Trading in Pakistan
When the entire world is busy with investing their money in different cryptocurrencies (particularly Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or Ripple), Pakistanis struggle to find a way to avail this golden opportunity to make the most of the available monetary resources. Yes, it’s governmentally illegal to trade in Bitcoin for Pakistan’s residents; though, we have still managed to find an alternate that resolves a lot of issues.
Trading with an Alternate
It was back in 2018 when the Pakistan’s government declared it illegal to invest in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The residents were not able to use any exchange no matter what. Even, Binance wasn’t accepting Pakistan’s credit and debit cards due to the latest FATF regulations. But, it’s was until December 2020 when Binance finally announced the acceptance of Pakistani debit and credit cards; whereas, the regulations are still at their place.
So, what I figured out that there are some local bitcoin exchanges offering to sell Bitcoins to the Pakistanis so that they can use them in the future to buy other currencies. I found two cryptocurrency exchanges- LocalBitcoin.com and Paxful- that enable people to buy and sell Bitcoins. However, the thing that makes Paxful different from the other is the presence of sellers who already own Bitcoins. When a buyer wants to acquire BTC, he/she has to find a seller whose price sounds appropriate to him/her. After selection, a transaction will be initiated where the buyer has to deposit money into the seller’s local account and provide the receipt as the proof so that he/she can release the Bitcoin.
Here, you might be wondering why did I register on Binance if I was satisfied with Paxful, right? Well, that’s not true. Although I found this peer-to-peer exchange better than LocalBitcoin, it doesn’t mean that I would like to stay with it when there were numerous better options available for me. So, while being on this platform, I continued my search for a better cryptocurrency exchange and guess what, I found Binance! The major reason why I preferred it was that Binance is the marketplace where there is no seller or buyer to do the trading; rather, traders are free to buy and sell coins whenever they feel like. There is no need to wait for the seller to put his/her coins for sale.
Trading with Binance
Now that you know why did I choose Binance, let’s move ahead to our actual topic for discussion i.e. how to trade with Binance. For that, you will first have to learn how to become a member of the platform.
- Register an Account with Binance and Acquire a Digital Wallet
Irrespective of the fact that bitcoin trading is illegal in Pakistan, Binance is one of those platforms that have catered attention of people to invest in cryptocurrencies. It is still encouraging potential investors to take advantage of the opportunity and find a reliable cryptocurrency exchange. I was one of those and took the chance to try out my luck with some of the money I earned with a lot of efforts.
If you are also planning to invest with Binance, then let me tell you the registration process is as simple as you would see on any other platform. So, let’s find out how you can be a part of it:
Log on to Binance.com and always check the secure certification as sign of the website being authentic.
Now click on the ‘Register’ button at the top right and provide your email address, password and referral ID (if any) and press the ‘Create Account’ button. You will be re-directed to a page where you will have to fill all your personal as well as payment details in order to authenticate your identity.
Don’t forget to enable 2-Facter Authentication to prevent your account from possible theft or being involved in any fraudulent activity
And here you go! You are now a user of Binance exchange!
Binance Tips and Tricks
First of all, apart from taking advantage of margin/leverage, Binance doesn’t require traders to verify their accounts, meaning that they can trade cryptocurrencies and deposit and withdraw funds without providing identity details like CNIC for Pakistanis. All you need to provide is a valid email address.
However, you still choose to verify yourself by providing your national ID card or passport scans. This will give you the facility to withdraw 2 or more BTC per day along with a higher leverage on trading, which amounts to $16,000.
Binance is a platform that provides leverage of 20x max but, if you are trading with an unverified account, it may limit your access to 5x.
Last but not the least, Binance charges a low fee of 0.10% which could even be lowered if you opt to use their own coin- named Binance Coin or BNB.
Binance Digital Wallet
Now that you are a member of Binance cryptocurrency platform, you have the access to its digital wallet that will store your cryptocurrencies for as long as you want. When I started using Binance, I get to see my wallet immediately as it is present in the form of a ‘Wallet Tab’ on its dashboard bar. Here, you will find a huge list of cryptocurrencies that Binance has for the traders to invest their money in.
You are free to search for any coin of your choice. All you need to do is to use the ‘Search Bar’ and type the name of the coin like Bitcoin; even, if you know, you can also type short forms like BTC. Once you have the list, you can decide to deposit the coin into your wallet and click to initiate the action.
You will then be driven to the digital wallet section where you will see ‘BTC Address’ on the top right of the screen. This is the address of your wallet which you can use to transfer coins from other wallets or vice versa. Just be careful about the address or you might end up losing your coins!
Here, I want to appreciate the inventor of cryptocurrencies because he has opened numerous doors for the world to earn or multiply the money they already have. Not only did I tried the Bitcoin wallet but I also acquired Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP) wallets that gave me access to a huge marketplace.
Trading as a CFD
How could I forget to mention CFD when I have tried it by myself. CFD, abbreviated as contracts for difference, refers to a method of trading shares and stocks. It is the perfect way of acquiring cryptocurrencies for beginners because it’s quite simple and secured at the same time. When I started crypto-trading, someone introduced me to the concept of CFD and it took me around 2 months to actually come to the conclusion that I should use this method just to see my ability or the extent to which I can bear the loss, if things don’t come out as I have expected.
Here is why I would suggest you all to try it at least once:
- It allows you to trade on leverage, meaning that you don’t have to invest the entire amount of the trade. Just put down a part and save the rest to invest on other trades.
- You will enjoy liquidity of two platforms, where you can sell the crycptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, whenever you want. There is no need to wait for a buyer to make a bid. CFD is the time saving method of making money with cryptocurrencies.
- CFDs are usually secured and regulated by the legal bodies, which ensures that you will be getting legal assistance in case of a hack or scam.
- The charges and fees are quite reasonable.
Conclusion
Now that I have explained quite a lot about cryptocurrency, or Bitcoin, trading in Pakistan, you should be able to take the primary step of whether you would like to step into this world of speculation or not. Just remember to be patient and attentive about every single development happening in the market and you will surely get the desired results.
